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Saturday, September 29, 2012

This fantastic recipe was published by Taste Australia. Beets are rich in dietary fiber and folate. They also contain manganese, vitamin C, potassium, beta carotene and the tumor fighting compound betacyanin. Indulge as often as you can!

Ingredients:

2 large beets, trimmed

1 Tbs wholegrain mustard

1 Tbsp flax oil

1 Tbs fresh lemon juice

2 Ttbs chopped fresh dill

1 shallot, trimmed, thinly sliced

Kosher salt and freshly grind pepper to taste

Method:

Peel the beets. You may want to wear rubber gloves to avoid staining of your hands.

Coarsely grate the beets into a large bowl.

Combine the mustard, flax oil and lemon juice in a small bowl.

Stir the mustard mixture, dill and chopped shallot into the grated beets.

Season with salt and pepper.

Feel free to experiment. Substitute dill for red chili pepper and mustard for olive oil. Use red onions instead of shallots and coriander instead of dill.

Enjoy as condiment with burgers and sandwiches or as a deep with tortilla chips or raw vegetables.

Monday, September 24, 2012

I love physalis! I eat it whenever I can lay my hands on it, but I never attempted to make a smoothie out of it. Until today, that is.

Physalis (physalis peruviana), also known as Cape gooseberry, Golden berry or Inca berry, is a member of the nightshade family. The orange berry is enclosed in a calyx (husk) that resembles a miniature Chinese lantern. The fruit is indigenous to South America, but it also grows in South Africa, Australia, China and India.

In folk medicine, physalis has been used as a medicinal herb to treat cancer, leukemia, malaria, asthma, hepatitis, dermatitis and rheumatism.

Physalis berries are high in vitamin C, beta-carotene, iron, calcium and trace amounts of B vitamins including B12. They are also high in protein.

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh physalis (golden berries), husked

2 bananas

2 - 3 Medjool dates, soaked in water overnight

2 cups filtered water or coconut water

1 Tbsp raw honey

1/3 tsp chili flakes

1/3 tsp cinnamon

1/3 tsp ground cloves

pinch ground nutmeg - optional

1 scoop raw protein powder (optional)

pinch Celtic salt

3-4 ice cubes

Method:

Place all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Garnish with physalis and enjoy in good company!

As always, feel free to experiment with ingredients and their amounts. I must warn you, though. I tried to make this smoothie with oat milk. It blended perfectly and was very tasty, but faster than I could drink it, the creamy liquid in my blender turned bad. I looked like an light orange sour milk. I guess, the acid in fruit simply "cut" the milk. I had to make another batch. This time I decided to use filtered water. I added raw protein powder to make it thick and smooth. It worked.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

The change of seasons is a perfect time for a detox. If you consequently follow the alkalizing raw food diet, you probably do not suffer from toxic overload. But although we can carefully chose our food, we do not always have the same power over the environment we are living in. Heavy metals may accumulate in our bodies and impede the normal function of liver and kidneys. Therefore, a detox therapy is recommended even for the most careful of us.

The easiest and least harmful way to detoxify heavy metals from the body is to use cilantro. Cilantro (coriander) has detoxifying and anti-inflammatory properties. Rich in phytonutrients, flavonoids, and active phenolic compounds, cilantro has been used for ages to prevent indigestion and other digestive disorders. Most recent studies have confirmed this healing potential.

Cilantro contains compounds that help alleviate inflammation and eradicate harmful microbes in the body. It also has antiseptic properties. To my knowledge, cilantro is the only herb that can chelate heavy metals from the brain tissue.

Use fresh cilantro on regular basis. Add this aromatic herb to your green smoothies and juices; use it in your salads and salad dressings.

In radiant health - passionately raw! - Dominique

This recipe will not only make your raw dishes taste great, it will help your body get rid of heavy metals. To understand why, please click here

Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic

1/3 cup Brazil nuts (selenium source) or macadamia nuts

1/3 cup sunflower seeds (cysteine source)

1/3 cup pumpkin seeds (zinc, magnesium sources)

1 cup fresh cilantro (coriander)

1 cup parsley

2/3 cup cold pressed olive oil

4 tablespoons lemon juice (Vitamin C source)

Pinch of sea salt and

1/2 tsp dulse flakes to flavor

Method:

Soak the seeds and nuts overnight to release the enzyme inhibitors.

Process the parsley, cilantro coriander in a blender until the herbs are well chopped.

Add olive oil and blend some more.

Add the garlic, nuts, and seeds, salt, dulse and lemon juice and blend until the mixture is blended into a fine, smooth paste.

Enjoy on raw zucchini pasta or as a dip!

Store your detox pesto in a dark glass jar. It freezes well. You can make a large batch and keep it frozen in small portions.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Goji berries (Lycium barbarum, not to be confused with Lycium chinense), also known as Wolfsberry, are native to China, Mongolia and the Himalaya, especially Tibet. They are well known in the Oriental materia medica and were used for more than 6,000 years.

Since ancient times, goji berries were used to promote overall health, protect the liver, improve blood circulation, improve the sexual function and fertility, and boost the immune system.

With the ORAC value of 25,300 in 20 grams of fresh fruits, goji berries are an exceptional source of antioxidants, especially beta-carotene and zeaxanthin. Since ancient times they were used by the Chinese to improve and protect the vision. This was ages before the modern science discovered that the central role of zeaxanthin in the body is to protect the eye from macular degeneration.

Goji berries are considered to be a super food that is rich in Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Thiamine (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Niacin (Vitamin B6), and Betaine. They contain fiber and 19 amino acids, eight of which are the essential amino acids that cannot be produced by the body. Moreover, goji berries are a good source of minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus, as well as the trace minerals, among others iron, zinc, copper, manganese, chromium, and the immune system supporting selenium and germanium. The seeds of goji berries are a good source of the linoleic acid. Goji berries also contain the anti-inflammatory beta-sisterol that reduces blood levels of cholesterol in the body. The Lycium barbarum polysaccharide is a unique agent that is known for its potential to increase the production of the human growth hormone, HGH, by the pituitary gland, hence the rejuvenating potential of this power berries that was attributed to them by the ancient Chinese. Goji berries also contain other active agents, such as cyperone and solavetivone, that have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, the ability to increase the activity of the white blood cells, or the ability to enhance the liver and digestive functions in the body. A compound called physalin has a remarkable ability to enhance the activity of the immune killer cells and to counteract leukemia and hepatitis B. Goji berries have a very law glycemic index, GI, and are known to regulate the blood sugar and metabolism.

The health industry launched products that not only promote the overall health, but also support weight loss and healthy metabolism. The claims are often very dramatic, but the use of goji berries as a weight loss formula is not very well documented and caution is advised, as the products may contain other ingredients and not much of the Tibetan goji extract.

The health industry launched products that not only promote the overall health, but also support weight loss and healthy metabolism. The claims are often very dramatic, but the use of goji berries as a weight loss formula is not very well documented and caution is advised, as the products may contain other ingredients and not much of the Tibetan goji extract.

Goji berries can be consumed like raisins in your morning cereal, in form of capsules or as juice. I like them as a tea or in my favorite smoothie. Here is the recipe you may want to try:

Mix all the ingredients, including the soaking water, in a blender or a food processor, adding the flax oil in the end.

Enjoy in good company!

If you are struggling with your weight, you may want to explore the market for the goji products for weight loss. Remember, however, that supplements cannot replace exercise and a healthy and balanced nutrition. Consult you health care provider before you begin supplementation with a product that you never tried before.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

If you love salads there is nothing better than a bowl of crispy, garden fresh lettuce and fragrant herbs laced with a tasty dressing. A nutritious salad can constitute a meal in its own right. Simply remember to balance textures, colors and aromas.

Make sure you are using organically grown ingredients. And remember to use what's in season. This way you will secure optimal nutritional value.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Every time I talk about salt I realize that there is a salt phobia of some kind. I understand the negative effects of excess sodium, but the salt I am talking is not the denatured white product you find in salt shakers in most diners and restaurants which is also added to most ready made foods.

Although the raw food recipes do not require much salt, I always add salt to most of my dishes. I add salt to my smoothies and vegetable juices; I add salt to my raw soups, salad dressings and sauces; I add salt to my raw desserts. Not much - just a pinch. And I use the best there is: either the raw, unprocessed dark grey salt from Brittany or the pink salt from the Himalaya.

Rosa rugosa

The natural, unprocessed salt is rich in minerals and trace elements that are indispensable to health. Salt not only enhances the taste of many dishes, but most importantly, provides nutrients that our bodies need in order to function properly.

Foraged rose petals ready for the drying in the sun

Salt is a very versatile material. I love to make herb or wild petal scented mixtures and keep them in salt mills. In this way salt is not only protected from moisture, but the aroma of the used plant matter is preserved for quite some time.

Use to enhance the taste of smoothies and raw desserts. Store in dark and moisture free place.

The longer the salt is infused with the fragrant rose petals the more aromatic it will become.

Rose petal scented pink Himalaya salt

To make a fragrant salt you can use different flowers. The most suitable are violets, marigold, corn flowers, lavender, camomile and jasmine flowers. You can add dried fragrant herbs such as thyme, oregano and rosemary. Always make sure that they are organically grown.

worth reading

Today, more than ninety five percent of all chronic disease is caused by food choice, toxic food ingredients, nutritional deficiencies and lack of physical exercise. - Mike Adams

Vitamin B12 for vegans!

Your health is what you make of it. Everything you do and think either adds to the vitality, energy and spirit you possess or takes away from it. - Ann Wigmore

Be Like A Pineapple T-Shirt

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. - Luciano Pavarotti

Why chose raw food?

The raw food diet, also known as the living food diet, is a diet primarily based on pure, unprocessed and uncooked plant foods, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, sprouts, seeds, nuts, grains, beans, nuts, dried fruit, and seaweed. While many people on raw food are vegans, some do not necessarily exclude other raw foods such as raw eggs, raw honey, raw milk, meat and fish.

The raw food diet consists of 75 - 100 percent raw foods and may include some foods that are cooked or baked. For a better absorption of nutrients raw diet should also include raw fermented foods.

It is important to understand that heating food above 118°F or 47°C destroys most of the enzymes that normally assist in the digestion of food and absorption of nutrients. On the energy level, cooking is believed to diminish the nutritional value and the "life force" of food thus making cooked and processed foods energetically less valuable to the body.

Proponents of the raw food diet believe it has numerous health benefits, including:

For many people raw food means more than a way to obtain nutrition. It is a joyful lifestyle they embrace consciously, knowing that it will lead them to a better mental and physical health and a much happier life.

Radish Detox Smoothie

Health, excellent or ill, is passed to our children not just through our genes but primarily through our recipes. - Joanne L. Mumola Williams

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